Romans 8:6

Having one's mind controlled by the old nature is death, but having one's mind controlled by the Spirit is life and shalom (peace).


- Romans 8:6


Time and time again in the New Testament we see that our mind plays a very important role in our salvation and in the process of becoming more Christ-like. We are to have the mind of Christ. We are to renew our minds. Temptation and sin begin in our minds. And in this verse from Romans we can see that our mind does need to be controlled, but by whom?


Rather than allowing our minds to be controlled by our old nature, we should allow our mind to be controlled by the Spirit of God. Being controlled by the old nature would be allowing ourselves to continue to be involved in thoughts and actions that we partook of prior to coming to Christ - things that Scripture says are against the Law of God and are sin and death to us. This could include, but is by no means limited to, watching violent or sexually explicit movies, listening to music that promotes violence or drug use, continuing to engage in addictive behaviours, or simply allowing our minds to run free in our thought life. All of these things will bring us pain and will keep us from having a close relationship with the Lord.


We must choose what we allow into our minds via our eyes and our ears. We must choose to say no to things that are unacceptable to God. We must choose to turn our lives over to God and allow Him to lead us in His ways.

If we allow ourselves to be controlled by the Sprit of God we will begin to be freed from the old nature and start to experience the freedom that Christ died to give us. We will spend time studying Scripture so that we can know God better and come to know His will. In this way His Spirit can have more and more control in our lives and we will indeed experience His life and His peace - in our minds, in our bodies, and in every area of our lives.


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